1. Field of the Invention
Aspects of the present invention relate to an image forming apparatus and more particularly, to an electrophotographic image forming apparatus comprising a blocking member blocking or passing a scanning beam.
2. Description of the Related Art
An image forming apparatus generates a scanning beam, such as a laser, based on printing data, and enables toner to be developed according to a surface voltage distribution of a photosensitive body that receives the scanning beam.
Because of potential health and safety issues, the scanning beam should be prevented from escaping outside the image forming apparatus, and exposure of users to the scanning beam should be prevented.
In response to such a requirement, Japanese Patent First Publication Nos. 5-19603, 6-297755, and 6-305185 have been disclosed.